


Mimiced Killing Life

by Mchogone



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Blood, Fandon Ronpa, I don't know if it's that graphic yet but it may become graphic, It's Danganronpa what do you expect, Minor Violence, Original Character Death(s), Original Characters - Freeform, Other, all OCs - Freeform, i can't put much else in this tag as of right now rest in peace, i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2018-12-27 08:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12077049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mchogone/pseuds/Mchogone
Summary: Hiroto Ando, Ultimate Lawyer. Waking up with no memory wasn't exactly new to him, but waking up with no memory in a room full of supposed strangers then being told to kill each other was new to him.As panic rises, so does the body count. However, solving mysteries is what Hiroto's skilled in. Can this particular mystery be solved?





	1. Introduction Ceremony

**Author's Note:**

> I AM JUST NOW REALIZING THE PROTAGONIST'S LAST NAME AND THE ULTIMATE CONFECTIONER'S LAST NAMES ARE THE SAME, SWEAR I DIDN'T MEAN THAT.
> 
> ALSO REALIZING THAT THE MAGICIAN KAORU IS NAMED KAORU. MAN I SHOULD'VE CHECKED THESE NAMES FIRST.
> 
> If there's any relevance to any DR characters (1,2,3,UDG,anything) they're not meant to be like that. I haven't played Danganronpa 3 yet and, like I screamed at the top, didn't really catch the names of the new people in Danganronpa 3: End of Hopes Peak: Future Side
> 
> Also, something I noticed was that I use the protagonist's first name and everybody else's last names when writing. Whenever I use someone's first name instead of last, that means that they're currently the main character. If that makes sense. Probably doesn't.
> 
>  
> 
> Arc 1 - Shelter of Murder - Daily Life

Hiroto slowly opened his eyes, blinking twice as he tried to remember what happened. Turning up a blank, he stands up, getting a better look around. He was in a small dining room with a bunch of other people laying on the floor, asleep. He noticed his suit jacket laying across, walking over and dusting it off. He also noticed his notebook hanging out of the inner pocket, grabbing it as he puts the suit on, rolling the sleeves up to his elbows and opening the small book.

 

He had trouble with his memory, and with him being the Ultimate Lawyer, it was necessary that he remember important details. So he kept a small pocketbook in the inside of his jacket just in case he blacks out. Opening it to the last written page, he begins to read.  _ The Bunker’s ready, we're just now putting in the last boxes.  _ There was a couple of lines scribbled out, but he could make out the last words.  _ Gas, everybody, sleep _ . “Hm,” Hiroto looks around the room in more detail.

 

There's about 16 of them, and it seems he was the first one to wake up. They're all laying haphazardly on the floor, but it was obvious that they had been dragged here. In the center was a white plastic table with 16 chairs circling it, with some smaller tables off to the side that had around 2-3 chairs. There was tinted glass doors to the side and what seems to be a kitchen to the other side. The walls were painted black while the floor was a deep red. He was just about to leave when he heard a grumble on the floor near him, looking down he noticed one of the others waking up. They were a guy, wearing a long, black raincoat that went down to their also black boots and hands, which also had gloves on. He started to lift his head, dark brown eyes glaring at Hiroto. Hiroto puts out his hand and helps him up to his knees, watching as they fully stood up. He never liked being as short as a elementary kid, but that was life.

 

“Where are we?” The man who had just woken up grumbled, their hood covering their blonde hair and a bandana covering their mouth. “I don't know either, it seems we were drugged.” Hiroto gestures to the rest of the room. As he did, the rest of the students seemed to be waking up, in their own ways.

 

As everybody was getting up, it was bound to happen that a panic spread. Hiroto waved his hands in the air, yelling for their attention. Like his height, his voice wasn't that loud. Court rooms were already quiet, and he was a bit self conscious of his volume.

 

Suddenly, the cloaked man picked up Hiroto and yelled at the rest of the students, much louder than Hiroto. “The pipsqueak is trying to say something.” The cloaked figure placed Hiroto on the center table as he glared back at them for calling him a pipsqueak. It didn't last long as he stood to the students before him. “We're all confused, but panicking won't do us good. I do know that we've been drugged and we should probably know the layout of this place before thinking of escape-” As if on que, a haunting laugh filled the room. Hiroto turned to the door as a small, fox robot standing on two legs was laughing. One side was a light shade of red, while the other side was a darker tint. On the darker side was a maniacal grin and a red arch while on the lighter side there was a simple black dot and a small grin. The fox ears matches the color scheme of the sides they were on.

 

“A robot fox?!” One of the buffier men shouted.

 

“Hey, you got answers?! If you don’t, you’re gonna be  _ rubble _ !” Another girl shouted.

 

“Calm down, calm down!” The robot before them waved their hands. “Geez! Let me explain before you go ahead and attack me!” That got them to shush. “My name is Fox-o-kuma! I'll be your advisor while on this trip! Which means forever!”

 

The room gasped, but Fox-o-kuma continued on.

 

“There's no exits in this entire building! The only way out...is death! Or if you prefer, causing the death of another!”

 

This made the entire room explode even more. Once again, Fox-o-kuma silenced them.

 

“If you kill another classmate, and get past the trial, you'll be able to leave! I'll explain more when it gets to that point, you youngsters get stressed too easily! For now, I'll explain the handy dandy tablets you have!”

 

Hiroto patted around, looking for the supposed tablet. He felt it in the inner pocket of his suit, taking it out. He hadn’t realized before, the small tablet wasn’t that heavy. He questions how they placed the tablet there, considering that was a secret pocket. It instantly lit up, displaying his name on the Hope's Peak logo, Hiroto Ando-

 

Wait, Hope's Peak? He thought it seemed familiar, somehow...

 

“These notebooks say your name as you turn it on. It also has a map and a rulebook! Go ahead, check it out!”

 

Hiroto tapped on the 'Rules’ icon, looking through the list.

**_Rule 1 - There shall be no attacking the Advisor, Fox-o-kuma._ **

**_Rule 2 - All participants will have to be in their rooms by the Night Announcement, which plays at 10:30._ **

**_Rule 3 - Any incident that results in death will be counted as murder and held a trial for. The only exception is if they are killed by Fox-o-kuma._ **

**_Rule 4 - Trying to get into restricted areas will result in a punishment._ **

**_Rule 5 - Disobeying any rules will result in a punishment._ **

**_Rule 6 - The rules are subject to change at any time.  
_ **

He couldn't help but think he was dreaming. They may all be strangers, but doing something as dumb as killing seemed wrong. Looking around the room, though, he couldn’t be sure. Fox-o-kuma began their spiel again.

****

“Oh maaaan, the looks on your faces! I can see some good people in this crowd for sure! But it wouldn’t be that fun if you all went bananas, so that’s why we have those rules! Ironically, they have to keep you safe as well. But anyways, I bet you guys are wondering, ‘Oh amazingly amazing Fox-o-kuma, what do you mean by rooms?’ Well, i’m not a scoundrel. If you open the Map tab, you’ll see we’re in a complex! This place has rooms, this here cafeteria, and a rec room so you guys won’t get bored and have to resort to boring murder weapons! Come on, be creative!” Fox-o-kuma waves his hands around as the joyfully jokes about their lives, as if it was nothing. “Well, I’ll let you guys get situated now! Too-de-loo!”

****

The room was dead silent, until Hiroto spoke, “Maybe we should get to know each other? It’d make this all easier, even if someone were to...kill...we could limit possibilities based on ability and state of health.”. A couple of people nod and start talking among themselves. The cloaked guy from earlier turned to Hiroto, still with a stoic look in his eyes. Hiroto jumped off the table, barely reaching half of his height. He chuckles, before introducing himself. “My name is Ohayashi Ryo. Last thing I remember is entering Hope’s Peak, I’m an assassin. I trust you’ll tell nobody.”

****

**_Ohayashi Ryo, The Ultimate Assassin_ **

****

Hiroto left a note in his journal, with a crude drawing of him. “I won’t tell anyone. This is just for me to keep track. As for me, I’m Ando Hiroto. I believe I know what you’re talking about, about entering Hope’s Peak that is. I’m actually the Ultimate Lawyer.” Ohayashi chuckled. “I could tell,” He mumbled before walking away to another person to introduce themselves.

****

Hiroto walked up to two other people, a nimble lady wearing a pink ballet dress, pink ballet shoes, and their orange hair in a bun, and the buff man from earlier, wearing a dark blue tank top and khaki shorts, black hiking boots, and brown hair with a stubble. It seemed like the girl was trying to hit on the guy, but he was too naive to realize it. They both turned to him, introducing themselves, the lady going first.

****

“My name is Nakashima Ayako! I’m going to Hope’s Peak as the Ultimate Ballerina! Obvious, right?” Hiroto already hates this chick. Too sugary-sweet.

****

“And I’m Maruyama Daisuke! I was also going there as the Ultimate Wrestler!” As if on cue, Maruyama flexed his muscles. Hiroto flinched, he wasn’t even up to this guy’s waist! Maruyama saw this, picking up Hiroto as if he was a doll, and patted him on the head, almost flattening the stubborn bit of hit hair that stayed in a swirl. “Don’t be scared, lil kid! We’ll all protect you!” Nakashima giggled behind her hand as he was placed back down.

****

**_Nakashima Ayako, Ultimate Ballerina. Maruyama Daisuke, Ultimate Wrestler_ **

****

Hiroto had to stop himself from just drawing a stupid face for Nakashima. He drew the simple drawings before glaring at Maruyama, “By the way, I’m not a kid. I’m Ando Hiroto, Ultimate Lawyer.” Both of their faces turned into ones of shock, Maruyama’s was apologetic while Nakashima’s was mischievous. “It seems a lot of people are from Hope’s Peak. Do you think we all are?”

****

They look at each other, shrugging. “Probably. I mean, everybody here looks freaky. Especially those three, go talk to them or something.” Nakashima pointed to a corner of the cafeteria where three people stood, two girls and a boy, before beginning to chat up Maruyama again.

****

Walking over to the trio, the three didn’t even seem like they were talking to each other at all, all of them turning to him instantly as he came up to them. He’s seen some crazier things, so it didn’t freak him out  _ that _ much, “I’m Ando Hiroto, Ultimate Lawyer. I assume you three also go to Hope’s Peak?”

****

They all nodded, and the shorter of the trio spoke up first. She had short black hair that covered their left eye, and was almost as small as he was. She had on a dress, long white sleeves with a black base that ended at her knees. She had on a black choker and black flats. “My name is Saito Kasumi...I’m the Ultimate Medium...I can  _ uh  _ see ghosts…” Her voice was extremely quiet, Hiroto could barely hear it. He couldn’t respond before the two others spoke up at the same time.

****

“Our names are Akito and Akiko Kokowa, the Ultimate Actors!” The taller two smile down at Hiroto. It was only then did he realize that these two were identical twins, the only difference would be the girl’s hair length, it was a bob while the guy’s was spiky like his own, and half of a face mask. The girl had a smiling mask which attached to the left side of her face, while the guy had a frowning mask that attached to the right side of his face. They both wore red skinny jeans with black dance shoes and a long, white button shirt with short sleeves and a orange vest to go over it. Hiroto drew the three in his notebook.

****

**_Saito Kasumi, Ultimate Medium. Kokowa Akiko and Kokowa Akito, Ultimate Actors. Also twins._ **

****

He caught a side glance of Saito from the corner of his eyes, she had a bad look in her eyes. The kind of look that he usually sees in mentally unstable clients. The kind that just screams ‘run’. But after a mere second, she smiles at Hiroto and walks to another group.

****

“Hey, Ando.” Ohayashi waved from across the room. He was standing with three other people at the other side of the room. Hiroto walked over, being towered over once more. Screw his 4 feet stature. Ohayashi started to introduce the three he was standing with, “This is Oono Kaoru, Ultimate Magician. She was going to Hope’s Peak too.” He pointed to a brightly dressed girl, she was wearing a short dress that fanned out from her waist, multicolored like a rainbow with the torso piece being white. She had on black gloves that went all the way up to her elbows, almost reaching her shoulders, with the fingers cut off. The same was for her leggings, clashing with her rainbow-dotted heels. Her hair was long and black, but her sidebangs were red on one side, and blue on the other. Her light yellow eyes seemed to always gleam. She also had a top hat on, with a rainbow ribbon attached to it. “Yup! If I ever see a frown, rest assured I’ll cheer you right up!” Oono smiled and giggled.

****

“You do that and I’ll blow you up!” The second person in the group huffed. She was dressed as outrageous as Oono, she had light pink hair that was put up dumpling style, with white ribbons holding them together. Her eyes were the same color as her hair, with a snarky look to them. She was also wearing a dress, this one longer than Oono’s, with red and light pink stripes going up to the center piece, which was just light pink with cherry designs. She had knee-high socks that were white with the same cherry designs, having on black dress shoes. She had shorter gloves, ending at her wrist and were completely white. Around her waist was a brown belt, with tons of cherry-themed bags on them, as well as some..actual cherries? These seemed to be made of metal though. “Those are bombs, dude!” The girl laughed.

****

“This is Yamasaki Etsko. She insists she be called ‘Cheri’ though. Her talent is bombs.” Ohayashi informed as if it was an everyday fact. “Yea, so don’t go touching them! They’re  _ extremely  _ sensitive!” Yamasaki, Cheri laughed.

****

“You’re both outrageous.” The last man sighed. He only had on a simple white button up shirt with some black dress pants and brown shoes. He stood out, but only because he looked so simple. His dark brown hair was slicked back, as if it had been glued that way. He had on tinted glasses, so his eyes looked like a dark blue. “My name is Takeda Takashi. I’m the Ultimate Host. Ohayashi here already told us about you. I’m glad that I could make your acquaintance.” Hiroto could’ve sworn Oono mumbled ‘stuck-up’ under her breathe.

****

**_Oono Kaoru, Ultimate Magician. Yamasaki (Cheri) Etsko, Ultimate Bomb Expert. Takeda Takashi, Ultimate Host_ **

****

“You taking notes?” Takeda tried to read what was in the notebook, when Hiroto slammed it shut. “ _ yes I am _ ,” Hiroto huffed as the new three blinked, before going off on their own again. Ohayashi turned to Hiroto, “They think my skill is spying, and that’s how I mentioned you, as a fellow spy who just so happens to be the Ultimate Lawyer. Don’t mention my talent.”

****

“I meant for us all to be honest.”

****

“Who do you think will be blamed first if a corpse turns up? Obviously the man skilled in taking lives.”

****

Hiroto sighed, “You do have a point. Alright, I won’t tell anyone.” Ohayashi smiled at that.

****

“Good. Go introduce yourself to the rest. I plan on leaving right now.” He saw the confused look on Hiroto’s face and started talking again, “The map in our handbooks. It’s not that big, I want to check out the area.”

****

“Well, let me come with you.”

****

“You don’t know half of the people here.”

****

“Don’t our handbooks have a list of people?”

****

Ohayashi looked confused this time as Hiroto pulled out his handbook and turned it on. There, on the tabs, was a ‘Registry’ tab. “I noticed it while that robot was talking. I’ll go through this later, but right now I want to come with you. Not fond of crowds.” He laughed at that as the turned to the door, “You’re a lawyer, but you’re about the most opposite of one I’ve seen. Come on, pretty sure nobody would notice us gone.”

****

Hiroto nodded as he followed Ohayashi out of the room.


	2. Loneliness In Numbers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It says posted September 13th, but I literally posted this right after the first chapter because damn did I go overboard.
> 
> ALSO THAT MOMENT WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT YOU MESSED UP OHAYASHI'S NAME WITH ODAYASHI SEVERAL TIMES AND HAD TO GO BACK AND CHANGE IT. Tell me if I missed an Ohayashi, or if the story says "Toshihiro" instead of "Takaki". That was also a random mistake I made several times.

The hallway was the same color as the cafeteria. Taking out his handbook, Hiroto opened the ‘Map’ tab. It showed the layout of their prison, noticing a lack of rooms. The cafeteria was centered in the middle, with a hallway going around the cafeteria completely. On the opposite sides of the hallways were 16 rooms, 8 on each side. It seemed to be categorized by gender. In the map was the rec room that Fox-o-kuma mentioned before, and beside it was a greyed out room with the word ‘Restricted’ on it. In front of them, to the left, was a staircase that also said ‘Restricted’ and to the right was a small room with Fox-o-kuma’s face on it. Hiroto looked up, seeing the staircase to their left and a orange-red door to their right. “Well, we don’t have many options.” Ohayashi stated, before heading left. “Rec room it is.”

 

When they arrived in the Rec room, they were surprised at what they saw. The walls in this room were painted green with a white tile floor. Around the room was workshop tables, workout equipment, and easels. To the left of the door seemed to be a storage room. Inside was tall racks of boxes full of snacks and everyday supplies. The walls and floor in that room were made of metal. It wasn’t a total surprise when Ohayashi pulled out a box full of daggers. “This stuff is just placed here as if it was nothing…” He mumbled as the started taking the daggers and placing them in the inner side of his cloak. Hiroto gave him a sideways glare, “What are you doing?"

“Keeping these weapons safe.”

“You’re not going to kill me, are you?”

“No. I only kill within reason. Besides, I’d be an obvious suspect considering we’re the only two who left the cafeteria.” Ohayashi thought of a moment, “But you’d be a prime victim for any murderer, you’d be able to find them instantly if they happened to kill anybody else based on your background. So, think of me as your bodyguard.”

“Bodyguard?"

“Yea. I don’t want to kill anyone if I can avoid it.”

Hiroto nodded, “Alright. I still don’t completely trust you though.” Ohayashi only nodded before he began to search through other boxes, taking any weapon and hiding it in his cloak.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The two didn’t find much in the room, but they did carry an assortment of boxes full of weapons back to their rooms. Coincidentally, their rooms were right next to each other, Hiroto’s being on the far end next to the restricted room and Ohayashi’s right next to his. They both agreed to keep some boxes in both of their rooms, but Ohayashi took more of the boxes in the end. Hiroto heard the door lock behind him as the set the box down, before looking around the room.

It looked like a regular dorm room, the walls were a plain blue and the floor was a grey carpet. In front of him was a bed pushed against a wall, a desk beside it, and a shelf to the left of him. At the end of the bed was another room, with a piece of paper taped on it.

_ Bathrooms have automatic locks that switch on at 11:30pm _

_ Water switches off at 10:30pm _

_ Both turn back around 8:00am _

“This is a bathroom then,” Hiroto gently pushed the door open, confirming his suspicions. There was a regular shower, toilet, and sink with a mirror matching the white room. He closed the door again, before hopping on his bed. He just now realized the camera, clock, and screen above the door. The clock said that it was already 10:00. Hiroto pulled out his handbook, taping on the ‘Registry’ tab. Might as well catch up on the rest of the students.

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ **

**_Gender: Male_ **

**_DOB: January 17th_ **

**_Talent: Ultimate Surgeon_ **

His picture had him in a long, white lab jacket with black pants, black shoes, and a loose-fitting blue shirt. His hair was similar to Takashi’s, except his hair was a golden brown.

**_Ishida Tatsuhiro_ **

**_Gender: Male_ **

**_DOB: November 5th_ **

**_Talent: Ultimate Ice Skater_ **

His picture was of a much taller man wearing a tan jumpsuit, which was half unzipped, revealing a black skintight suit. He seemed calm, his hair going down to his shoulders with a small braid on the right side, a white tie separating it from the rest.

**_Aoki Ikuyo_ **

**_Gender: Female_ **

**_DOB: June 17th_ **

**_Talent: Ultimate Craftsman_ **

Her picture was typical for her talent - she had on a blue sweater dress with white polka-dots that ended at her wrists, having on white work gloves and a white worker’s apron. She had on blue boots with white laces, and black knee-high socks. Her smile was carefree and easygoing, her black, short hair ending in small swirls and her light blue eyes just seem to calm down anybody who looks at her.

**_Fukuda Bunta_ **

**_Gender: Male_ **

**_DOB: March 18th_ **

**_Talent: Ultimate Entrepreneur_ **

His picture was stereotypical, a black and grey striped suit like his own, except the sleeves extended to his wrists and the end of the sleeves as well as the collar had iron ends. He also had one of those monocles that old rich men wear, it was slightly hanging out of his suit’s front pocket on an iron chain. His hair was pitch black, as well as his eyes. He had a strict look in his eyes. If Hiroto didn’t know his talent, he would’ve been sure he was another lawyer like himself.

**_Shibata Noriko_ **

**_Gender: Female_ **

**_DOB: April 27th_ **

**_Talent: Ultimate Marksman_ **

She looked like a trained soldier, she had on a thick, black rain jacket with several badges on the right side. She had on grey shorts that came up to her thighs, and wore black hiking boots with grey socks that almost came up to the shorts. Her grey hair had been pulled up in a high riding ponytail that fell to her waist, her eyes a stone-cold grey that seemed to just scream death.

**_Kaneko Yuuta_ **

**_Gender: Male_ **

**_DOB: April 3rd_ **

**_Talent: Ultimate Pianist_ **

He was extremely tall and skinny, having on a loose fitting, white dress shirt that ended at his elbows. He had on a black vest that had some white musical notes painted around it, white his pants were a maroon color. His shoes were just normal black shoes, while his black hair had been curled to almost float in front of his face, and white earrings could be seen in his ears. He had on a set of black aviators, noticing how there was also a walking stick in the picture. Hiroto sighed.

He shut off the handbook, setting it on the nearby desk as the TV gave out an annoyingly cheerful tune.

“ **_Attention, Attention! It is currently 10:30pm! Better hustle to those rooms, because even if you have your books they’ll lock you out! As for the students who obeyed the curfew, sleep tight! Don’t let a murderer bite!_ ** ”

Hiroto couldn’t of expected anything else from the damned robot-fox that showed on the TV. He wrote down the information he gained about the last 6 ‘students’, and put his notebook in the inner pocket of his jacket. He stares at the door, thinking over the events of the day. The most fearful thing wasn’t the fact that someone could be dying - Hiroto was surprisingly used to that - but the fact someone had went through his notebook and scribbled out something. Hiroto  _ never _ scribbles out words in his notebook for this exact reason. Somebody knew about this, and somebody wanted to keep his memories sealed. How many more pages have been scribbled out? He laid down on the bed, trying to control his breathing. That was his one, singular fear, was memory loss. 

He managed to lull himself to sleep with his worries.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

**_Fox-o-kuma Show!_ **

“You ever wonder what it’s like to die? Me too!”

“It’s funny to watch people go to war over what they think happens when we die!”

“It gets on my nerves sometimes, just let them rest! Don’t gotta overturn their graves for stupid fights!”

“People sure like to make any excuse to fight, though.”

“Like, if your sibling steals the last piece of cake! Or if another society wants some ground-liquid! You just GOTTA take out the guns and start firing!”

“They need to work things out without arguing for once! It’s entertaining for awhile, but then it just becomes sad.”

**_Fox-o-kuma Out!_ **

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Hiroto jumped awake at the cheerful tone that he’s quickly associating with the announcements Fox-o-kuma gives.

“ **_Wakey, Wakey, Knives and Bacey! It’s now 8:00am! Get up and get planning!_ ** ”

He wanted to do nothing more than pass out right then and there, as if this was all a dream. But there was things needed to be done. Hiroto hopped off his bed, rubbing his hands on his suit to straighten it up, before heading into the bathroom. Looking around, he’s glad for the lack of a camera. He still doesn’t dare take a shower, and instead just splashes water on his face before exiting his dorm room.

He stopped right outside of Ohayashi’s door, pressing a white button above the keycard scanner. A little ‘ding’ went off, and Ohayashi opened the door. He still had his cloak on, which made Hiroto believe he probably slept like that. Ohayashi, after seeing it was Hiroto, opened the door completely, letting Hiroto inside. “What should we do now?” Ohayashi walked over to his bed, sitting down and patting beside him. “Considering that this area is extremely small, we should plan out an escape route. Those stairs are an obvious option, but since they’re locked I guess we’ll probably be attacked for going beyond them. We’d have to distract Fox-o-kuma.” Hiroto explained as he hopped onto the bed next to Ohayashi, “The others would probably either ask about our safety or look around, considering we never told anybody that we looked around.”

Ohayashi looked at Hiroto, shrugging, “Would others care at this point? Everybody is most likely for themselves.”

“I’d like to think my speech had some effect.” Hiroto glared at Ohayashi, somewhat offended.

“Unity’s a hard thing to achieve, especially in these circumstances.”

“Well then, we’re going to try.” Hiroto hopped off the bed, “And yes, I mean we. You’re coming with me.” He walked to the door, opening it up and running into someone face first, falling backwards. He could hear Ohayashi holding back a giggle as he blinks, staring up at who he bumped into. “Sorry, lawyer kiddo! Was just checking on you two!” Maruyama stood in the doorway, gently picking up Hiroto. Ohayashi chuckled, seeing Hiroto being picked up like a little doll by Maruyama. “Everybody wondered where you guys went yesterday, we had all agreed to meet in the cafeteria every day! When you guys still didn’t show, everybody started poking around for you guys!” Maruyama smiled, but it quickly faded when he noticed the boxes full of weapons around Ohayashi’s room. Ohayashi protested, “There were several boxes of weapons in the storage room of the Rec Room, me and Ando decided to get rid of them before anybody could use them. The safest place seemed to be our rooms.”

“Lil’ lawyer, that true?”

Hiroto sighed at the nickname, “Yes, it’s true, although Ohayashi has way more boxes than me. We hadn’t told you all because of how late it was.” Maruyama’s smirk came back, “Well, alright! Come on, though, we should tell the others! You were the one saying we should get to know each other!”

Without waiting for any response, Maruyama picked up Hiroto and started walking to the cafeteria, Ohayashi trotting behind.

Maruyama burst opened the cafeteria door, setting Hiroto on the ground, gasping. Hiroto looked confused, before he caught sight of what was going on.

Fukuda and Takaki seemed to be in a heated argument, the rest of the students at edges of the cafeteria. The only exception was Ohayashi, Hiroto, and Maruyama, who were standing by the door, and Oono, who seemed to be trying to calm them both down.

“I say we just rip that damned robot apart!” Takaki yelled at Fukuda.

“If you’re wishing for death, then go ahead! We can’t do anything right now, mindlessly attacking our oppressor isn’t going to help!” Fukuda backfired.

“Guys! We shouldn’t be fighting! Shu-ush!” Oono waved her hands in between them, her being a barrier from this turning into a fist fight. Maruyama trotted up to both of them, looking down at them. “I know this had to happen while we were looking for Ohayashi and Ando, who are okay, so what’s gotten into both of you?!”

The two guys fighting turned to face Maruyama as Oono backed away. Hiroto walked up behind Maruyama as they started their spiels.

“This doctor here thinks we should go ahead and fight Fox-o-kuma, we can’t be certain that Fox-o-kuma can kill one of us!” Fukuda started.

“This business drone thinks we shouldn’t do anything!” Takaki stomped his foot down, pointing at Fukuda.

“ _ Business drone _ ?!” Fukuda almost screamed, before aiming to punch Takaki. Maruyama grabbed Fukuda, pulling him back while Hiroto and Oono pulled back Takaki as the room erupted into voices giving their own opinions (And Cheri laughing at the would-be fight). Hiroto tried silencing the crowd, looking over at Ohayashi for help, who had been silent. Ohayashi coughed, before staring into the crowd,

“ **_EVERYBODY, SHUT UP._ ** ” Hiroto shook at the anger and intensity of Ohayashi’s voice. Everybody stopped, turning to him, while Ohayashi pointed at Hiroto, “Why don’t we let him settle this? He’s skilled with arguments, after all.” They all suddenly turned to Hiroto, who let Takaki go in favor of standing on the center table.

“First off, I’d like to explain where me and Ohayashi went, seeing as some people were worried.” There were some scuffs in the crowd, particularly from Fukuda, Takaki, and Shibata. “We had decided to look around before we had to be in our rooms. Of course, the only place available to us is the Rec room. Assuming everybody’s checked that room out, it’s just a quaint room with various equipment. We mostly checked out the storage room, however.”

“As for our escape, it’s bad to think about it, but Fukuda’s right. There’s nothing we can do unless we want to receive ‘punishment’ by Fox-o-kuma. I assume nobody really wants to figure out what that is?” There was a sea of head shaking. “Right. We should all just-” Hiroto was cut off by Takaki.

“‘Stand here and do nothing’? Like you said, there’s  _ nothing _ here, it’s not like we can walk around and discover some secret trap door or anything!”

Surprisingly, Saito spoke up before Hiroto, “Maybe the restricted areas are restricted for a reason…? They may open up the stairs or the other rooms soon..!” Hiroto nodded at Saito, “She’s right. We’ve been here for what, a day maybe? We shouldn’t come to a conclusion based on that alone. Aren’t you suppose to be a doctor, Takaki? You should know that gathering one bit of information isn’t enough for a conclusion.”

Takaki seemed speechless, before he finally backed down. “You’re right...but what should we do in the meantime?” Hiroto hopped off the center table, heading into the kitchen. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I haven’t ate anything since yesterday and I’d rather fight with a full stomach rather than an empty one.” He left the group in favor of checking out the kitchen, sighing deeply and pulling out his notebook, turning to a new page.

**_Takaki and Fukuda fought, wanted to know what we should do. Ended up agreeing with Fukuda about doing nothing._ **

He closed the notebook, looking around the kitchen to find anything to snack on.


	3. Itchy Trigger Finger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anybody like cashews? I used to eat them all the time. Now I don't, I can't seem to find them in stores anymore. But seriously, cashews are great. They are good for you too. Eat a bunch of cashews.

Hiroto rummaged through the kitchen, surprised at the amount of preservatives in-stock. The kitchen was a small metal room, a huge freezer right next to the door to the left of the door, stoves, and counters on the far left round. There was also a counter island in the middle, and to the right was shelves lined with preservatives. The part in his notebook about this being a shetler seemed to be right. There was food here to last months, possibly years. He picked up a can of cashews, opening the lid to look inside. They seemed good, Hiroto popped a cashew into his mouth, chewing slightly. He loves cashews. He comes to a conclusion that they all could’ve came in here, considering the cashews were also his favorite brand. He eats another cashew, sitting the can on top of the center counter and taking out his notebook, scanning through.

 

Like he thought, most of the book had been scribbled through. He was able to see bits and pieces through the scribbles, however.

**_First day at Hope’s Peak, meeting classmates. ‘Hope’ it goes well._ **

**_…’s birthday today. The entire class is celebrating. Even...is coming! He never comes._ **

**_...blew up the fountain again. Her and …. got into a fight. She needs to stop, he can’t be beat._ **

**_The court case about Saito is today. Everybody’s worried. I KNOW she couldn’t of done it…_ **

Hiroto re-reads the last sentence he saw.

**_The court case about Saito is today._ **

Hiroto quickly places his notebook down, before pulling out the handbook and bringing up Saito’s profile.

**_Saito Kasumi_ **

**_Gender: Female_ **

**_Talent: Ultimate Medium_ **

**_DOB: October 25th_ **

Hiroto is suddenly slammed onto the ground, taking the handbook with him. “Gah! Sorry!” Hiroto blinks, standing up and dusts himself off subconsciously before checking his handbook, which seemed to be fine. He looked at the man who had accidently bumped into him, Kaneko. He was waving his walking stick around on the floor rapidly, before Hiroto grabbed his wrist. “I’m right here, it’s fine. Stop freaking out before you break something!”

 

Kaneko stopped, before “looking” at Hiroto. “I didn’t know you were in here, I’m sorry. I, uh, can’t see.” Hiroto smiled, knowing Kaneko can’t see it, “I figured as much. Did you need something? I can grab it for you.”

 

Kaneko shook his head, “No, I just wanted to ask you a question, okay? Please, don’t tell the others, alright? I don’t want people to freak out.”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“Well, everybody was talking about how they were all coming to Hope’s Peak Academy, and then they woke up here, and how people don’t know each other? Well, I remember someone…”

 

“Who?”

 

“Ishida Tatsuhiro. He talked to me alone yesterday and calmed me down. We lived by each other and basically grew up together. He has a little sister, I can’t remember her name, but he says he had a picture of us three in front of Hope’s Peak. We both don’t remember it at all, is that weird?”

 

Hiroto thought. Based on his notebook, the conclusion was...weird, to say the least. “Thank you for telling me. I think I’ve got a better clue of this place now.” Kaneko smiled, “Thank you for listening to me, Ando, was it? Ishida told me about you, and so that’s why I tried following you in here.” Kaneko began to turn around and, slowly, find his way out of the kitchen, leaving Hiroto alone.

 

Hiroto grabbed a fistfull of cashews, devoring them with a bit of choking. He looked over at his notebook, turning to a new page and quickly jotting down a note.

 

**_Most likely everybody has memory loss. Not coincidental. Just an outlandish guess._ **

 

He packed up his handbook and notebook, putting the cap back on the can of cashews and leaving it on the counter, before leaving the kitchen.

 

Most of the other students had left by the time he came back. Only Oono, Cheri, Kaneko, and Ishida were left in the cafeteria. Cheri and Oono were whispering and giggling with each other while Kaneko and Ishida were sitting at one of the side tables, just talking. Cheri waves over Hiroto, grinning,“Hey, swirlie! C’mere!” Hiroto grimaces at the nickname, walking over as the two lean into both of his ears. “Wanna throw a party?” The two said at the same time. Hiroto backed up, chuckling, “You’re both act like the Kokawa twins.”

 

“Wait, they’re twins?” Oono stood back up, scratching her chin with one hand while the other was on her waist. “I thought they were just creepy people that looked alike.” Cheri smacked Oono on the cheek, “OF COURSE they’re twins! Why would they be hanging out with Saito?! They’re obviously in some creepy demon-ring!”

 

“Yamasaki, I don’t think that’s-”

 

“ **CHERI** .”

 

“... _ Cheri _ , I don’t think that’s the case. Although, that’s kind of a funny thing to think about.”

 

Oono laughed, “But anyway, you want too?” The girls seemed to be jumping with energy at the thought of it. Hiroto thought for a moment, before nodding. The girls screamed in joy, making Kaneko in the corner jump and Ishida gently laughs. Ishida started walking out with Kaneko as Oono and Cheri start giggling and planning with each other. Hiroto saw Ohayashi in the doorway, smiling. Hiroto smiled back, when Cheri and Oono suddenly stopped talking, bending down to reach Hiroto’s height. “I ship it,” Cheri whispers, which made Hiroto jump and Oono explode into laughter.

 

Oono ran out of the cafeteria, saying she was going to go get Takeda. Meanwhile, Cheri went into the kitchen to try to make some food for the party (“I totally know how to cook!” Cheri gleamed) leaving Hiroto to come up with the decorations. He set out for the Rec room, stopped for a moment in the doorway as he watched what was going on, hiding back a snicker.

 

Maruyama was lifting Nakashima in one arm, and Aoki in the other on his biceps. Aoki was gripping Maruyama’s fist scared while Nakashima was swinging her feet back and forth, smiling. He could see Shibata watching with a dull look on her face, but had a small smile on their face. Hiroto side-walked over to Shibata, unnoticed by the other three, “What’s going on?”

 

“Maruyama has made it clear that the equipment here is not up to his standards and has decided to lift Nakashima and Aoki instead.” Shibata responds, turning around to one of the tables where some blueprints were. “You took guns with you, right?”

 

Hiroto shakes his head, walking over and examining the blueprints. They were gun blueprints, very detailed and advanced ones. “This is my handwriting,” Shibata contemplates, “and very specific blueprints. No doubt I made these.”

 

She rolls the blueprints up, taking them into the storage room. Hiroto follows, beginning to look in different boxes for party supplies. Suddenly, he hears a surprised gasp and a grunt, as something cold drips onto his back. He turns around quickly, eyes opening wide.

 

Ohayashi had a metal pole struck through the palm of his hand, Shibata behind him with a glare in her eyes. Nobody moved as Maruyama, Aoki, and Nakashima ran into the side room quickly, Maruyama quickly grabbing Shibata and pulling her away, Aoki running over to Ohayashi and Hiroto as Nakashima fled from the room when she saw the blood. “Shibata! What were you thinking?!” Maruyama basically screamed in Shibata’s ear, who had on their stoic face as usual. Aoki was pushing both Ohayashi and Hiroto out of the room while Maruyama continued to interrogate Shibata.

 

Once they were in the hallway, some more of the students were running over as Aoki was applying pressure to Ohayashi’s wound. He seemed fine, while everybody else was kind of shaken. Hiroto only stared at Ohayashi, while Ohayashi stared back. Everybody was trying to ask questions as Takaki pushed through the crowd to examine Ohayashi’s wound. “It’s fine. It could’ve been much worse.” Ohayashi waves off Takaki and Aoki, letting the blood continue to drip. “Your fingers are barely holding on.” Takaki insisted, grabbing Ohayashi’s wrist forcefully. Hiroto got a better look at his hand, and Takaki was telling the truth. The metal pole had been long and thick enough to completely go through Ohayashi’s palm, however the diameter of the pole wasn’t that big. His middle finger, however, was hanging by the flesh of his other fingers and, if Ohayashi wasn’t careful, it would certainly fall off. Takaki started pushing Ohayashi through the hall, “I’m going to make him rest in his room. He’s losing a ton of blood.”

 

With them gone, everybody turned to Hiroto. “What even happened?” Aoki shook Hiroto gently, “We heard the impact, but we didn’t exactly know what it was.”

 

Hiroto gently shook his head, laughing somewhat. “Wow. I think someone just tried to kill me.” He began to laugh a little more as another laugh joined him, making him stop suddenly.

 

“I didn’t think this would happen THAT quickly!” Fox-o-kuma said from behind Hiroto. Everybody present looked that way. “Man, and I didn’t even get to show you guys the really cool motive I had planned!”

 

“What do you mean, you demonic fox?” Fukuda almost snarled at him.

 

“Out with it, chap!” Kokawa - Akiko - said something in a foreign language with an equally foreign accent, “Spit it out!” She says right after, this time it was understandable.

 

“A motive for  _ murder _ , duh! I know that you kiddos don’t got enough will to just do it. Or, well, I thought that anyway.” Fox-o-kuma relaxes, putting a hand on their waist(?) while waving the other one in the air, “Didn’t expect for someone to go ahead and off one of your fellows! Maybe you guys aren’t that dumb after all!”

 

“Say it to our faces and let’s see who survives the fight!” Cheri yelled, fist pumping.

 

“If you really wanna fight me, go ahead! Just know that I’ll be leaving with your heads!” Fox-o-kuma bellows with laughter. “But that’s not why I’m here! All things aside, I love heat-of-the-moment saves like this one. Don’t want anybody to die this early, not enough has happened and that SUCKS! So, I’ve updated your maps! The infirmary is now open! See-ya kiddos!”

 

And just like that, Fox-o-kuma waddles down the hallway at lightning speeds. Hiroto pulled out his tab to see that the restricted room was now labeled ‘Infirmary’. “We should go get Takaki, make sure edge-lord isn’t gonna die.” Nakashima starts walking to the cafeteria, the others started to follow. Only Hiroto stayed in place. He turned into the Rec room, seeing Shibata tied up in some ropes and chains while Maruyama is sitting on the floor, hands on his cheeks and his legs crossed. It seemed uncomfortable for someone his size and weight. “Hey, lil’ lawyer. I tied her up so she couldn’t do anything else, she isn’t speaking though. You know what happened?” Hiroto nodded and sat down by Maruyama, away from Shibata “Well, at least I think I do. I was looking for some supplies and then suddenly Ohayashi was behind me while Shibata had a pole aimed at my neck, but Ohayashi was there.” Hiroto felt the dried blood on the back of his jacket. It moved off smoothly though. Shibata finally looked at Hiroto, speaking.

 

“I only chose you because of the information you had.” Hiroto and Maruyama gave confused looks, “I knew something was going on, and with what I know about you, you’re talent would make you have some interesting information. It’s anybody’s guess that you may be behind this.”

 

Maruyama and Hiroto’s eyes widen from shock, Maruyama quickly looked at Hiroto in fear. “That’s not true. Not at all. I’m just as clueless as the rest of you guys.” Hiroto waved his arms at Maruyama. Shibata huffed. “I don’t believe that. It takes more to convince me.”

 

The room was silent, before Hiroto spoke up. “Well, something good did come from this,” Maruyama glared at Hiroto, “The restricted room on this floor is now unlocked. It’s an infirmary. Pretty sure that Takaki has Ohayashi in there now, the others went to go tell him after Fox-o-kuma told us. We should check it out.”

 

Hiroto started to leave the room, looking back at Maruyama who hadn’t moved. Shibata still just stared forward with a dull look on her face. “I’m going to stay here to watch her. Make sure she doesn’t break out and try to kill anybody else!” He stood up, pushing one of his fists to his chest, “Nobody is going to die if Maruyama Daisuke has ANYTHING to say about it!” Hiroto chuckled at the sudden confidence, before waving goodbye. “I’ll leave you here then and tell the others what you think.” Maruyama laughed wholeheartedly as Hiroto left to go to the infirmary. He could still hear the boisterous laughter from the hall and as the entered the newly-opened room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any suggestions for cases, please let me know. Somehow I've already grown attached to these characters and I just can't think of who to kill off. I'd like to see what you guys come up with.
> 
> If you think I'm rushing, please let me know. I've been trying to slow down in my writing to make it seem a little bit better.


	4. You and Me, Rendevouz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA FINALLY FIXED IT DAYS LATER.

The smell of anti-septic hit him quickly. He was surprised to only see Takaki, Ohayashi, and Saito in the room. The room itself was bleached white, except for the bed frames and cabinets. The back of the room was lined with glass cabinets, each stock-full of many bottles of different sizes. To the left were three beds, white curtain dividers between them and grey side-tables next to them. To the right was a couple of white desks with two white chairs up against the wall, with more cabinets above which held some medical equipment. Ohayashi was sitting on the bed closest to the door, while Takaki and Saito were sitting in the chairs. “Hello, Ando.” Saito gently waved, getting the attention of Takaki and Ohayashi, “were you worried for Ohayashi?”

Hiroto nodded, sitting down next to Ohayashi. His entire wrist had been bandaged and he was holding it awkwardly. Takaki kept quickly talking to Saito in the background. “You okay? That wasn’t a thick pole, but it went _straight damn through_.” Ohayashi chuckled, despite Hiroto’s worried look.

“Takaki patched me up well. I can’t feel it anymore, although he said I’m going to have to loose my middle finger. There goes my job, haha.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something as noticeable as not having a finger could be the death of me.” Ohayashi whispered, “I’m well known for my work.”

Hiroto nodded, staring forward at the white wall, counting all the tiny cracks. “Thanks.” Ohayashi gave a grunt of confusion. “For taking that blow. No doubt I would’ve died on impact.”

Ohayashi smirked, “Isn’t that what a bodyguard does? Why thank me to do my job?” He said in a snarky attitude.

“Well okay then just throw my thanks away like I’m some spoiled food.” Hiroto chuckled. Takaki glared over at them in confusion before continuing his conversation with Saito. Hiroto hopped off the bed, “I need to go now, got some things to do. I’ll come by later.” Ohayashi simply waved as Hiroto left, Saito and Takaki not giving second glances.

Hiroto almost walked into Cheri and Oono when he left the room. They both had their hands up to their mouths, suppressing some giggles. Hiroto tilted his head as the two grabbed him by his arms and dragged him away, despite his protests. “Hey! Let me go!”

“Not today, swirly!” Cheri laughed as they stopped in front of her room, opening the door and tossing him inside before they entered after him, “We need to talk!”

“About what?”

“Ohayashi!”

“What about him?”

“I ship it even HARDER now!”

“What?!”

Hiroto’s mouth gaped open as the two girls laughed. Oono fell on the floor, clutching her chest as she gulped for air while Cheri leaned against the desk in her room. In fact, the room was identical to Hiroto’s, except the walls were a light pink. “What do you mean, ‘you ship it harder’?! We haven’t known each other for a WEEK yet!” Hiroto glared at them, “I don’t even know if he‘s into dudes!”

“So you like him?” Oono managed to gasp out.

“ **_NO._ ** ” Hiroto nearly screamed, but the two just kept on laughing. They eventually stopped, and Cheri croaked out, “But it looks that way.” Hiroto folded his arms, still glaring hard at her, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you said that to everybody here.” Oono nodded to Hiroto, still gasping for air. Cheri continued, “That’s not why we basically dragged you here, well ok that was why we dragged you here, but we gotta talk about something more important that your hidden love life,” (“I don’t have a love life!”) “we need to prepare for our little party! Even if one of us almost killed another, I am DETERMINED for this party to HAPPEN!” Cheri reflectively slammed her hands on the desk. She glared at Hiroto before he sighed, “Fine. What do you need me to do - I’m not going back to the storage room. Shibata’s there and she’s made it _very_ clear that she does not trust me.”

Oono perked up, finally being able to speak normally again. “Don’t worry, Takeda’s gonna get the goods. We just gotta set it up and get people ready.” She got up from her place on the floor, “But why’s Shibata still in there? Did someone lock the door?”

“No, Maruyama offered to keep an eye on her. It’s relatively safe, pretty sure Shibata couldn’t beat Maruyama in a fight.”

“That’s true.” Oono laughed and left the room, leaving Cheri and Hiroto alone, “Gonna go tell Takeda! You two go to the cafeteria and set up!” Cheri gave a cheerful thumbs up while Hiroto nodded. A couple of minutes after she left, Cheri dragged Hiroto along to the cafeteria and into the kitchen, where there was several ingredients thrown about haphazardly.

“Let’s get to cooking!” Cheri yelped.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Hiroto wobbled on the step-stool as the hung up the last of the streamers. Cheri wouldn’t stop teasing him for needing to use a step-stool with how low the ceiling was already, but she _did_ burn some of the food, and Hiroto had mocked her for it. This was even,he supposed.. Takeda walked over to Hiroto, staring at the streamers before sighing, “Good enough.”

He hopped down from the step-stool and looked at the cafeteria. Oono had to stop a couple of the others from entering the room. Now, she was giving some sort of speech outside of the doors. He could barely hear what she was saying, but it sounded like she was getting people excited for the makeshift party. Hiroto sat the step-stool back in the kitchen as Oono opened the cafeteria’s door with enough enthusiasm to knock the door off of it’s hinges. The door didn’t fall off, but the room did fill with the rest of the students (Excluding Shibata and Maruyama). “Well, what do you guys think?” Cheri dragged Hiroto, Oono, and Takeda into a arm hug, “We put this together, howd’s it look?” The initial reaction was, well, _interesting_.

Nakashima and Saito seemed unimpressed, while the twins,Kaneko, and Ishida seemed excited for the party. Ikuyo had already gone to the middle table, where Cheri’s poor excuse for food had been placed and was already starting to take a small bit. Ohayashi, Takai, and Fukuda seemed like Nakashima and Saito but in a more tolerable way.

Within a couple of minutes (which felt like hours), everybody seemed to loosen up and start to chat with each other. Hiroto stood near the exit, away from Oono’s party tricks and games. He was never one for parties, not because he was an outcast or didn’t like people, but just because they seemed boring to him. Ohayashi seemed to feel the same way as he stood on the other side of the doors. Oono’s current party game seemed to be Truth or Dare, except without the truth part. He decided to at least watch them, with what happened with Shibata he wasn’t too sure on looking through his notebook right now.

“I dare the twins to...hmm” It was Cheri’s turn as she turned to the Kokowa twins in their circle on the floor, “...To mimic each other!”

The two only looked at each other for a split second before standing up. Akito, the male twin, went first, “I am Kokowa Akiko. I’m still scared of the dark.”

Akiko let out a small gasp, “I am Kokowa Akito. I’m scared of heavy rain!”

Akito snarled, “Well, _I_ still can’t ride a bike!”

Akiko hissed, “Well, _I_ still can’t read Japanese!”

“This is gold.” Cheri chuckled behind her hand, “No regrets.”

Hiroto sighed, barely keeping back a laugh. The entire circle was either failing to hold back laughs or not even trying to stop themselves as the twins perfectly mimic one another, until Oono had to calm them down through tears and the game continued.

It wasn’t long before it was Saito’s turn. She thought for a moment, before slowly pointing to Hiroto. “I dare you to bring this to Maruyama.” Saito stood up, making a plate full of the edible portions of the buffet and handed it to Hiroto, “Go on.”

He hesitated, before Ohayashi pushed open the door for him. “I’ll go with him”. Cheri and Oono were somehow shaking on their places as Saito nodded and mumbled an “okay”.

The two of them left the room, Ohayashi closing the door after Hiroto. “That was an obvious attempt of getting you out of the room.”

“No kidding.”

They walked quietly to the entrance to the Rec room, but were stopped short when they heard the stomping of their stuffed oppressor. “Hellloooo kiddos! Thought you were gonna stay with the party-gang!” Fox-o-kuma put his paws up to his ever-smiling mouth, “Thought for sure that they were going to keep your interested, at least, for a little while!”

“Can’t you just leave us alone?” Ohayashi stepped closer to Fox-o-kuma as if to attack him, but made no more to do so.

“Chakakale! A supervisor should _never_ leave their children alone! They could do something bad, like escape!”

“Do you need anything in particular, then, _supervisor_ ?” Ohayashi sounded ticked as the leaned down to Fox-o-kuma’s height. Fox-o-kuma only laughed in his face, twirling on one foot and hopping back down the hallway, “I was just curious to see what my little kiddos were up too! I’ll let it go this once, but food is not allowed to leave the cafeteria! Gotta keep this place clean, after all! Tell your buddies they gotta eat in there or _not at all_ !” As they turned the corner, a little _bing_ went off from their handbooks.

 

**_Rule 7 - No food or drink is allowed to leave the cafeteria._ **

 

“It could be worse.” Hiroto tried to nudge open the door with his shoulder, but Ohayashi pushed him back and opened it instead. He squinted his eyes at him as Maruyama’s boisterous voice filled their ears.

“-you understand? We gotta work together, not kill each other! I doubt you’ve understand what friends are, you know?! Teammates do **_not try to spear each other in the back-_ ** Oh! Ohayashi, Ando! I was just giving a **_friendly_ ** chat with Shibata about what happened earlier.” Maruyama was sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing Shibata. He looked over his shoulder at the two with a big grin. “Well, there was a party going on and I was dared to bring you something. So, here’s some food.” Hiroto handed the plate over to Maruyama. It was just some food that didn’t require any utensils, so Maruyama just dug in with his fists. Ohayashi turned to leave, but Hiroto glanced at Shibata. She was still tied up and sitting on the floor, looking like a snake ready to bite the head off of a bunny. He headed into the storage room, looking around for something he found earlier… There.

He walked back out with a bottle of water and some packaged gummies, opening them both and placing them in front of Shibata. “You don’t need your arms to eat, but you can still eat. Just bend down or something.” He didn’t stay to see Shibata’s reaction, quickly leaving the room afterwards and heading to his room.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Hiroto can’t sleep.

It’s been at least an hour since Fox-o-kuma’s announcement, and ever since he entered his room he has been laying on his bed. Ohayashi and Cheri came by to try to coax him out. He knows it was them because of the letters under the door. He could tell from his spot on the bed that the erratic and outrageous letters were from Cheri and the normal, serious ones were from Ohayashi.

He didn’t move though, instead continuing to stare at the ceiling from his bed.

_He really shouldn’t have been here._

There were _very_ few times he wished his amnesia would kick in, and this was one of them. He specialized in this kind of thing, but it didn’t make the experience any less terrifying. The weight of Fox-o-kuma’s words finally hit then. This was a killing game. People were going to kill each other.

Hiroto chuckled to himself. It started out small, before turning into full-out laughter.

He finally fell asleep, gruesome images of the others dying before him flashes in his head.

~-~-~-~-~-~An Hour Earlier~-~-~-~-~-~

Ryo tossed the final streamers into the box. He had offered to clean up after Ando had went to his room and wouldn’t come out after Cheri and him tried to coax him out. Cheri was taking care of the food, and Ryo wasn’t going to be surprised if some people have stomach aches in the morning. Oono and Takeda helped with some of the carnage from the party, they had gotten out of hand after Ryo and Ando left.

Ryo turned around, just in time to straft to the left and dodge Cheri’s tackle. She fell into the box of streamers, effectively destroying the box. “Dang. I was trying to scare you!”

“You failed.” Ryo hummed and helped Cheri out of the box. She giggled, “I got a question for you actually!”

“Hm?”

“How do you know Ando?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes!”

“Alright.” Ryo pulled out two of the cafeteria chairs, urging for Cheri to sit down. He sat in the other chair, staring directly at Cheri. He let a beat of silence pass before speaking, “I’d rather he remember.”

“He doesn’t know?”

“No. He has amnesia. It just comes and goes for him.”

“Well, how do _you_ know that?”

“I just do.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“I’ll bug you or Ando until you give me an answer!”

“He won’t talk. I just said he has amnesia from the time.”

“I’ll bug you then.”

“I won’t budge.”

“COME ON! Just TELL ME!”

Ryo stared hard at Cheri. Her resolve seemed to crumble. “All I will say is that we used to know each other. That’s it. No more.”

Cheri opened her mouth to argue, but the bell from the monitor suddenly rung. Ryo didn’t even bother listening to the announcement before leaving the room, Cheri being left behind.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

**_Fox-o-kuma Show!_ **

“You know when you do something minor, then the next day it’s suddenly like it never happened?”

“Did you dream it?”

“Did you watch it?”

“What did you do?”

“Did you even do it yourself?”

“And then you realize you did do it and suddenly everybody hates you!”

“Or you’re suddenly blamed like a stupid scapegoat and treated like a criminal!”

“Humans make me wonder why I’m even on this planet!”

“Overly-critical people are seen as cynical people who hurt without remorse.”

“Psychopaths and sociopaths are treated like mere bugs!”

“What’s the deal about segregation?”

**_Fox-o-kuma Out!_ **

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cheri's basically a self-insert at this point I swear.
> 
> Also, the program I use to type all of this on is Google Docs (because fuck my main computer's speed, using my school computer. Somehow haven't got caught for 2 years.) and what bugs me is separating paragraphs. That's why the text is so far out, it's a little bigger on Archive than on Google, so I went back and took all of them out. Tell me what you think!


	5. One Out Of Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for confirmation, Cheri's name is Etsko. Just wanted to confirm that since she has her own little part and to tell that I used her real name. Yea.
> 
> Also this chapter is kind of short for my usual standards (On Google I usually say 7-8 pages is enough. This one is 5) but I swear I have a good reason for it. Just read it.

Hiroto spent the next day in his room. Well, he would of, but the others were persistent on getting him to come out. After listening to a doorbell ring for 30 minutes, he closed his notebook, placed it in his inner pocket, and opened the door.

Half of the student body was present, which surprised him. Ohayashi, Cheri, Oono, Saito, Nakashima, the Kokowa twins, Ishida, Aoki, and Kaneko were huddled around his door. Oono waved her hands in the air, “He finally woke up!” Cheri giggled, “Sleepy-head didn’t wanna help us clean up yesterday, haha!”

“We were a little worried.” Kaneko smiles, although it wasn’t exactly at Hiroto - a little above his head. He didn’t think much of it.

“The others are talking with Shibata about yesterday.” Aoki held her hands together meekly.

“They’re interrogating her.” Ohayashi stated.

Nakashima was about to say something, but they heard the distant sound of the bells from the monitor in Hiroto’s room. The morning announcement was a couple of hours ago, so this must be an announcement from him himself.

“ **_Attention, Attention! This is an important school announcement! Please head to the cafeteria at your quickest pace! Tardiness is NOT acceptable!_ ** ”

The monitor shut off. Everybody started heading to the cafeteria at the sound of that. They were still a bit unsettled by the sound of “punishment”.

It wasn’t long before everybody had entered the cafeteria, even Shibata who was being carried over Maruyama’s shoulder, Fox-o-kuma standing on the main table. Hiroto was instantly suspicious, Fox-o-kuma’s entire demeanor was only ones he has seen by the cruelest mass murderers, despite being a fake animal. The others seemed to feel the same.

“You’re all here! Good! I can get started!” Fox-o-kuma coughs into his paws. “So you guys remember after that exciting time yesterday when I said I was planning a little motive for murder? Well, I got it settled!” Fox-o-kuma tries to hide a snicker, but his response is the cold opposite of the students’ faces, “It’s a timed motive, actually!”

“Each day that a murder does not happen - and I mean a full-fledged murder - a part of the facility will shut down! I’m not talking about rooms, oh no. Your basic necessities will be taken away one by one until either someone decides to kick someone’s bucket or you all suffer! Food, water, light,  **_all of it_ ** .” Fox-o-kuma’s snicker turns into a demonic laughter. “Tomorrow, your food will be gone. Then your water, then heat, then light, then the air supply!”

Everybody’s faces morphed into a horrid expression. Nobody moved as Fox-o-kuma simply jumped off the table and walked out, “I’ll be watching for the first death! Remember, by the way, that three or more people have to find the body or else no trial! Instant death!”

It was a  **_long_ ** while before anybody dared to speak. It was Cheri, her face was less shocked than the others, more on the end of Shibata’s usually stoic glare. “So...Anybody want to off themselves?”

Nakashima instantly fired back, “What do you mean?! You just want us to  **_die_ ** ?!”

Cheri just shrugged her shoulders, putting her hands up beside her in her shrug, “Um, do you want all of us to die? Greater good, that kind of thing.” She rolls her left hand in a circle boredly.

Aoki spoke up in a hushed tone, “S-so someone should s-sacrifice themselves? Would that count?”

Ohayashi looked at his feet, “Suicide could be counted as murder, since it’s the loss of a life. But to be sure, someone would have to murder somebody else. Two people should be sacrificed.”

Nakashima screamed, “ _ THAT’S ABSURD! _ ” She slammed her hands on a nearby table, “WHO WOULD DO SOMETHING SO  _ STUPID _ ?! YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE A MURDERER FOR  _ THINKING _ THAT!”

Maruyama huffed, “You can’t say they’re  _ wrong _ , though…”

Shibata spoke from Maruyama’s shoulder, “They’re absolutely right. Either we all die, or two die. We should just pick.”

Fukuda huffs, arms crossed, “I agree. Should we just do a draw, or do we have volunteers?”

Saito moved back into the shadows, “A drawing, if nobody comes up. I’m sure that the lucky two will be gracefully accept into the afterlife-”

“ _ LUCKY?! _ We’re talking about CONDEMNING PEOPLE TO  _ DEATH _ !” If this was anything shorter than reality, Nakashima would have steam coming out of her ears.

“N-No! That’s not what I meant!” Saito pleas as Nakashima stomps up to her, yanking her by the hair.

The twins, who were standing beside Saito, started to try to yank the two off of each other. That spurred the entire room into chaos.

Shibata was trying (and succeeding) at getting out of Maruyama’s hold, Kaneko and Ishida were huddled next to each other, mumbling to one another. Nakashima was screaming and pulling at Saito, while Akito was trying to yank Nakashima off and Akiko was pulling at Saito. Aoki was sobbing in a corner by herself, Takeki and Fukuda were planning out a drawing, while Hiroto and Ohayashi stood at the sidelines watching. Hiroto glances at Ohayashi for a split second, before turning back to the crowd.

“ **_ENOUGH_ ** !” Hiroto’s throat throbbed as he screamed the loudest he could. Everybody stopped, the twins taking the chance to finally pull Nakashima and Saito away from each other. Everybody looked at him. Ohayashi looks down at him, surprised. “We know that just sentencing someone to death is, well, not right. But we have to think of the bigger picture here. By day four, when the lights go out, most of us will have died from starvation or dehydration. From what Fox-o-kuma said, day five will cut off the oxygen - anybody living at that point will have only a couple of minutes left. The others are right...either two of us die or we all die…” Hiroto mumbled the last bit under his breathe. Hiroto has always been a truthful person, his line of work holds the truth as power, and tries not to delude himself. The others seem morose or terrified, Aoki’s sniffles fill the background. “I’d rather us die together, than us sacrifice somebody.”

The words hit hard. The only people who didn’t seem affect were Shibata, Ohayashi, and Cheri. Everybody else seemed, for lack of a better word, depressed.

One by one, everybody started to file out of the room. Hiroto stood in the corner, out of their way, staring at his feet. Ohayashi stood next to him, staring down at him the entire time. Everybody has left the room at this point. Hiroto walked over to a nearby table, pulling out a chair and sitting down, laying his head on the table. He hears Ohayashi pull the other chair out, sitting in front of him. “What are you going to do now?”

Hiroto huffed, “Not murder, if that’s what the fox wants.” Ohayashi chuckled. Hiroto lifted his head, Ohayashi seemed to be smiling under the cloak, “What’s under that cloak, anyway? I’ve never seen you take it off.”

Ohayashi laughs, “Nothing.”

“Really?”

“No. It’s just a plain black shirt and jeans. With more pockets.”

“Pocket-man?”

“Pocket-man.”

The two chuckle. Hiroto catches a look from Ohayashi. It was barely there, but it was something like what he‘d seen siblings look at each other. A protective, caring look. It was only for a second though. “Tell Cheri that, she’ll start calling you ‘Pocket-man’.”

The two laugh again, despite the threat of death not even an hour before

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Hiroto had went to his room, after eating in the cafeteria with Ohayashi. His stomach is already small, so it wasn’t anything much, but enough to tide him over. Well, until their inevitable death, that is. He sat down at the desk in his room, pulling out his notebook. He was near the end of the book - maybe around 30 pages left - so maybe this was fitting. Hiroto started to write down nothing less than a last will. Maybe someone will discover this place, it’s unlikely that they’ll still be alive to see that though.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Oono was on Etsko’s bed, sobbing their heart out. Etsko was sitting next to her, patting her back. “ _ I-I don’t want to d-d-die! _ ” Oono sobbed into her hands. Etsko had already tried to cheer her up, but her idea of ‘cheering up’ is less than acceptable.

“H-Hey, come on Oono! Cheer up! It’s alright!” Etsko lets Oono hug her.

“WE’RE ALL GONNA  _ DIE CHERI! _ ” Oono sobs into Etsko’s shoulder.

“S-So why are you crying? Come on, let’s do something AMAZING as a final goodbye!”

That only makes Oono cry even more. Etsko frowns as she sooths Oono.

Oono ended up falling asleep from crying. Etsko laid her down on her bed, not strong enough to carry her back to her room. “Well, if Oono won’t help, I’ll just do it by myself then.” Etsko put her hands on her hips - above her belt - before leaving her room. She had taken Oono’s handbook before hand, opening up Oono’s room. Oono’s room was the first door on the left, the closest to the cafeteria’s doors, while Etsko’s room was the third door on the left. Etsko used Oono’s tablet on her door, entering the room.

Oono’s room looked barely used. It  _ was _ barely used, since ever since the first night Oono had been bunking with Etsko. They had become acquaintances during the first day and Oono was terrified of sleeping by herself. Etsko was the only person they really trusted and from that day forward Oono had been sharing her bed with Etsko.   


She wasn’t really sure  _ why _ she’d entered Oono’s room, just that she did. Etsko did that sometimes, but she shrugged it off. Well, she was just a little curious, like if Oono had some scary wallpaper or something. In reality, Oono’s room just looked like Etsko’s room, except neater.

Etsko turned to leave, but a small jingle went off by the monitor on the wall.

 

“ **_Attention, Attention! It is currently 10:30pm! Run to those little rooms while you still can! Or face the wrath of Fox-o-kuma! Chakakale!_ ** ”

 

Well, she’s not leaving now, that’s for sure. Oono will be fine, yea. Etsko sat on Oono’s bed, leaning forward and placing her hands on her cheeks, her elbows on her knees. Etsko thinks of how to go out with a  _ bang _ , going in and out of consciousness.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Etsko was startled out of her unconscious state by the doorbell being abused. The jingles didn’t even have time to finish before another one started. Whoever it was, they were spamming it like no tomorrow. It annoyed Etsko like  _ crazy _ .

Etsko angrily got off of Oono’s bed, heading to the door, about to give them a piece of her mind, when her foot meets with something cold. She looked down, eyes going wide as she flinches back, causing her to lose her balance and fall onto the floor.

She was frozen as she stared at the little area of blood coming from under the door. The rapid jingles have escaped from Etsko’s ears as she stares at the little bit of blood on the floor. She snapped out of her daze, quickly jumping to the door about to open it, when the jingles suddenly stopped. Etsko’s hands were on the doorknob, just about to open it, and the ringing had stopped abruptly. She waited a few minutes, before trying to unlock the door. The door wouldn’t budge. Etsko tried harder and harder until she gave up, retreating to Oono’s bed and laying down, facing away from the small blood pile from under the door. She closed her eyes, pretending that it didn’t happen. “Exactly. It didn’t happen. I’m just still dreaming,” Etsko tried to convince herself, “There’s no way. No way. No  **_freaking_ ** way.”

Etsko fell asleep telling herself that she was close to saving somebody, and that they are possibly dead.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Hiroto slowly opened his eyes, his back ached from the awkward position he was in. He sat up, staring down at his open notebook and desk. He’d fallen asleep on his desk, huh. It was only then did he realize that someone was ringing his doorbell and not Fox-o-kuma’s morning announcement. It seems he’s sleeping past them all the time.

Hiroto got up, wiping the drool off of his mouth and closing his notebook, sticking it in his pocket, before walking over to the door. His hair feels messed up, but the angry ringer seems more important at the time. He opened the door, revealing a pretty uneasy Cheri, which was interesting. Her hands were cupped together by her chest, and her legs were shaking to the point it was barely audible. “Hey, A-Ando.” She whispered, looking from side to side, “You g-gotta see this.”

Worry began to overcome the annoyance. Cheri was already walking off, Hiroto jogging to keep up with her pace. From the sounds coming from the cafeteria, it seems everybody but themselves were there. Cheri lead Hiroto into the Rec room, where Oono was sitting on one of the workbenches, staring down at the floor in shock. Shibata looked to have been released, since Oono was the only one in the room.

Cheri only pointed to the door to the storage room, which was slightly cracked. Hiroto looked back at her, then at Oono. “Don’t tell me…” Hiroto began to say, before he sprinted over to the door, slamming it open. Cheri and Oono’s shock was to be expected, after seeing this.

Nakashima Ayako. Her body was laying on the floor of the room, her bright body clashing with the grey floor. “Body” was an overstatement, as several knife wounds peppered her body like a slice of pepper jack cheese. Nakashima’s eyelids were closed, but her mouth was open in shock, as if she had been screaming before her untimely death.

Hiroto didn’t notice he himself was screaming until another sound overcame it. It was the jingle, signaling that Fox-o-kuma had something to say.

 

“ **_Guys, guess what?! A body has been discovered! That’s right, kiddos! One of you offed another! And now it’s your guys jobs to get that person! Go on, it’s time to investigate! You don’t have FOREVER, you know! Oh, and one more thing! Check your school handbooks, as I’ve done you guys a favor and made a special little autopsy report! I know some of you are less-than-skilled for murder mysteries, but take a crack at it anyway._ ** ” Fox-o-kuma gave a little wave before the monitor shut off. The three stared at each other, frozen in place.

 

Hiroto blinked, turning his face into a determined glare. This is what he does. He wasn’t trained per-say for investigating dead bodies, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to. Investigating crime scenes was important for trialing someone as guilty. He turned his back to Cheri and Oono, looking down at Nakashima’s lifeless body.

“Get the others. I’ll investigate her body.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arc 1 - Shelter of Murder - Deadly Life
> 
> I quite literally did a little dance as I finished this chapter. "The bitch is dead, the bitch is dead." That's not why she's dead I swear. I totally just picked her at random. Totally.
> 
> To be honest, I re-did this case SO MANY TIMES. At first, the motive was going to be blackmail and Nakashima was going to get so pissed at Aoki and strangle her. Then I though, no, that's too simple, and so I thought that Ando was going to find them, then Nakashima got chained up but then someone poisons Aoki. I scrapped that and thought of Maruyama strangling Nakashima on accident, but no, that wasn't good enough either. 
> 
> I'd also like to mention that starting today, I'm on fall break! Given that, I won't be working on Ch5 as much as I usually do since I'll be trying to do other things (Like make a goddam ref sheet for these crazy characters). A dick move to certainly stop here especially since we just found a body, but I want to hear who killed Nakashima, why, and how? My fall break ends on Tuesday of next week, and I'll be crunching super hard on the investigation! I'll have both the investigation and trial in separate chapters, ending the trial off with the execution. The investigations/trials could be really short or really long, so I could finish Ch5 on Wednesday of next week. Enough ranting aside.
> 
> Anyway, as I said in a comment on Ch4, I had a really cool execution in place for Nakashima (since I thought I was going to have her murder somebody) but since she's dead I'll put it here!  
> "Final Act"  
> Nakashima would be standing on a stage, bowing to a crowd that's bathed in darkness, the only light being the stagelights aimed on her. Suddenly, one of them throws a rose, that has poisonous thorns on it. More and more roses get thrown as Nakashima dances to avoid them. Before long, she's made herself a small circle, surrounded by the roses. She can't move as a final rose is thrown at her. With a smile on her face, she catches the rose, her body slowly puffing up and turning purple from the poison, falling to her knees and dying.
> 
> I thought it was pretty cool.


	6. Investigation, Start! Case One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I underestimated how bored I'd be during this break, and writing was the only thing that seemed close to interesting. So I managed to complete this! The trial will be in the next chapter.

Hiroto stood over Nakashima’s dead body. A small little  _ ding _ went off on his tablet, he took it out and stared at it. It was a file labeled the Foxy Diary 1. “Creative,” Hiroto mumbled as he scrolled through the autopsy report.

**_The Victim is Nakashima Ayako, Ultimate Ballerina._ **

**_Time of Death : 12:45 AM_ **

**_Victim was injured by several wounds in their left and right arms, as well as their left and right legs, and few around her torso. The body has little bruises dotting their cheeks and arms, indicating a struggle._ **

He copied the file into his notebook.

**_Foxy Diary #1 Added to Notebook._ **

**_State Of Body Added to Notebook._ **

Hiroto put his handbook away, as well as his notebook, hearing the others finally coming into the room. He watched as most of their faces turned into shock.

“GYAAH!” Aoki screamed, backing into a frozen Maruyama.

“T-The hell?” Takeda mumbled.

“Crap…” Fukuda hissed.

The twins just stared at each other, not daring to look at Nakashima’s cold body.

Saito was crying in the back of the group.

Kaneko looked confused, “What happened? W-Who’s dead?!”

Ohayashi stood inbetween Ishida and Kaneko, “Nakashima. You’re lucky to be blind right now…”

Takaki had his arms crossed, looking at the body behind Hiroto, “Well? Let’s all stop dropping our jaws for a moment and investigate the crime scene. Fox-o-kuma told us we should investigate the crime scene, he probably wants us to caught the culprit.”

“And THEN do what? Make them apologize?” Surprisingly, it was Cheri who pointed her finger at Takaki, “‘Oh, I’m sorry I just BUTCHERED Nakashima.’ Like I’d accept that.”

Takaki glared at Cheri, making her stance crack, “Weren’t you preaching about someone dying so we’d all live? And may I remind you that it’s obvious you disliked Nakashima?”

The others stared at Cheri. Hiroto, however, glared at Takaki. While he was oblivious to their hatred, Cheri acted too terrified to have committed Nakashima’s murder.

“S-Shut up! I won’t say what you said was  _ wrong _ , b-but I have standards! Unlike Shibata, or the killer, or maybe they’re the same person?! She was itching to get rid of Ando!” Cheri’s voice grew from worried to hysterical. Oono was gently pulling on her arm, mumbling comforting words.

Takaki was about to open his mouth again, but Hiroto spoke up, “We shouldn’t be fighting right now. I’ll bring this back up - Fox-o-kuma said we didn’t have much time to investigate. We should do it while we can, then argue later.”

That seemed to get everybody into motion. Takaki shoved by Hiroto, bending down to Nakashima’s body, “I’ll perform another autopsy report. Go do something useful.”

Maruyama looked over at everybody, somewhat dazed, “I’ll stay here with Takaki and Aoki. To make sure nobody does anything with Nakashima. It’s not like we’d be useful. Isn’t that what people do, Ando?” Maruyama looked at him, not directly looking at the room, or Nakashima’s body. He nodded, shuffling out of the room. Everybody else seemed to be mumbling to themselves, or left during Cheri and Takaki’s argument. Ohayashi, however, followed Hiroto, “It’s best if we worked together,” was his excuse.

_ Time to do this. To find out who killed Nakashima, and more importantly  _ why her.

###  ~-~-~ **Investigation Start** ~-~-~

While looking around, Hiroto saw a faint blur of pink, clashing against the floor. It was faded and dry, and in front of Oono’s door. Ohayashi bent down, poking it with his finger, “Dry blood. It seems some has gotten under the door too.” Hiroto bent down next to Ohayashi, bending even more and peaking under the door. Indeed, there was a bit of dried blood on the other side, but it seemed to be disturbed a bit. Hiroto stood back up, taking out his notebook. “It seems Oono came to the door and stepped in the blood.”

“That doesn’t look like all.” Ohayashi stood back up as well, “The blood is dry, but it looks like someone tried to clean it up after it had already gotten hard. They tried to get rid of their evidence, most likely after they got rid of Nakashima.” Hiroto nodded, jotting down the information. “Also, there’s a pathway leading from here to the infirmary. It’s very easy to miss it, but it’s there all the same.”

**_Dried Blood Added to Notebook._ **

**_Oono’s Room Added to Notebook._ **

~-~-~-~-~-~

Hiroto approached Oono and Cheri, who were in the kitchen. They seemed to be looking around for any clues whatsoever, a bit panicky. “Hey, Oono, I have some questions for you.” Hiroto gently asked, but Oono still jumped from surprise. Cheri had peeked over her shoulder, but went back to investigating some drawers that were holding cutlery. “Last night, can you tell me  _ exactly _ what you did?”

Oono whimpered, but nodded, “After Fox-o-kuma’s threat, I stayed in Cheri’s room. E-Even before then, we were sharing rooms, b-because uh, my door’s broken! And all I can remember is that I fell asleep on her. When I woke up, however, she was gone. She had burst into her room and started shaking me, saying that we need to go look for a body…” The last few sentences of Oono’s account was in a whisper, her eyes darting to Cheri.

**_Oono’s Account Added to Notebook._ **

Ohayashi, who heard the full story from Oono, looked over at Cheri. She was  _ really _ getting indept with the knives. Hiroto walked over, looking at the drawers. The knife drawer had foam dividers for each knife, however one of the smaller knives and one of the bigger knives were missing.

**_Knife Drawer Added to Notebook._ **

“Hey, Cheri, what did you do last night? It’s important you tell the truth.” Cheri flinched, tenser than Oono. Her eyes looked suspicious, as if she’d just been caught. “W-Well, I was in my room, with Oono! She was really upset and I was trying to cheer her up, saying that we should throw another party. You know, a goodbye party.” Cheri looked over her shoulder at Oono. Oono was investigating the rest of the kitchen with Ohayashi, both of them distracted. Cheri leaned down, wary of the other two, “Look, I took Oono’s card and went into her room, okay? I was just wandering and I wanted to see what her room looked like since she was scared to stay there. I got locked in and dozed off, and then someone started ringing the door. I saw blood and freaked out...I swear, if you think it was me, it  _ wasn’t _ . I tried to open the door, I swear I did!” Cheri begged. Hiroto jots down Cheri’s account, as Cheri began anxiously looking back in the drawers.

**_Cheri’s Account Added to Notebook._ **

~-~-~-~-~-~

Hiroto and Ohayashi entered the Rec room, where Aoki, Maruyama, and Takaki were. Aoki was clinging onto Maruyama worriedly, eyes looking around frantically. Maruyama stood guard, bit giving a polite smile and a little wave as he noticed the two. Takaki walked over to the others, hands coated with blood. “I did my part. Unlike what the file Fox-o-kuma gave us, they left out the fact that there were two holes in the side of Nakashima’s neck. Both are syringes, and both were filled with narcotics. The killing blow had happened after the second syringe had filled inside of Nakashima, and from the horrible work of the syringe’s entry it seemed that Nakashima fought back before the second syringe was shoved into her neck. The first syringe, however, was delicate. Nakashima would’ve been trusting for the first one. It’s likely she didn’t know she was going to be murdered.” Takaki finished off, “The rest was stated in the autopsy report we already have as for her corpse’s condition.”

Takaki walked out of the room, leaving Hiroto, Ohayashi, Maruyama, and Aoki.

**_Takaki’s Report Added to Notebook._ **

“I think we should examine the body again.” Ohayashi added, “He could be the murderer and just threw us off guard.” Hiroto nodded, heading into the storage room.

Nakashima’s body was now laying down peacefully, her arms to her sides and her legs together, unlike the sprawled mess that she was in before. Her mouth had also been closed. Hiroto also noticed something else, getting on his needs and trying to push Nakashima over. Ohayash bent down after Hiroto’s failed attempt, and nonchalantly tossed her body, so she laid on her chest.

The knife wounds didn’t go through, but her outfit was stained pink, even more so than her usual getup. The blood was dry, but not as dry as the blood in the hallway. What was also surprising was the lack of blood on the floor, where Nakashima’s body originally was.

Ohayashi looked over the body, and once they were done examining, rolled her body back over. Hiroto had looked back at her eyes, noting back to how her mouth was open. “Hey, Ohayashi.” Ohayashi gave a small noise of confusion, “Have you ever seen someone in pain die with their eyes closed?”

“No. I haven’t.”

“Me either.”

**_State Of Body Updated._ **

~-~-~-~-~-~

After Takaki’s report, the two decided to head to the infirmary. Ishida and Kaneko were inside, Kaneko sitting in one of the desk chairs, while Ishida was searching over by the beds. Kaneko’s face brightened at the sound of the door opening, “Hello, whoever is there.” Kaneko’s calm nature seemed to calm Hiroto. Ishida looked up from where he was examining under a bed, instantly spotting the duo, “Oh, hello Ando, Ohayashi. I was just about to come get you both.”

“Why?” Hiroto walked over to where Ishida was standing. Ohayashi sat next to Kaneko.

“Well, I found this under the bed.”

Ishida bent down, pointing at a small plastic bag under the bed. There was a bit of blood on the edge of the bag. Ishida pulled it out for Hiroto, handing it to him. Inside was both of the missing knives, as well as an empty syringe with evidence of the narcotic Takaki mentioned inside. There was also a small bottle, having a bit of the same liquid that was in the syringe inside.

**_Bag Of Weapons Added to Notebook._ **

“Do you think it’s relevant to Nakashima’s death?” Ishida looked worried. Hiroto nodded, “Without a doubt. Thank you for showing me this.”

Before anybody had any time to respond, Fox-o-kuma’s jingle began to play. They all stared at the monitors, ready for their next shocker.

“ **_Hell-o my wonderful pupils! I saw you guys working so hard, so I decided to give you guys a break! Please meet up at the amazingly colored door! If you are too blind to see it, it’s the room with my face on it on the map! Oh, I guess you wouldn’t be able to see that either. Well, that’s not really an issue, though!_ ** ” And just like that, the monitor shut off. There was an audible sigh from Kaneko as everybody began to get up and move.

~-~-~-~-~-~

Inside of the room was a small lobby type area. The walls and floor were a sickly white, while on each sides of the walls was two black and red chairs with a fake plant inbetween them. On the far wall, however, was a pair of doors, with a sign above them. The original word was scribbled out, and to the side was a piece of paper labeled “Judgement Hall” in bright colors. The child-like writing only increased the creep-factor.

It wasn’t that much of a wait before everybody entered. Nobody got a chance to talk as Fox-o-kuma suddenly appeared before them “Yo yo yo! You guys excited?!” Fox-o-kuma howled in laughter, “I sure am! You guys were really boring for a moment, but you surprise me with your itchiness to murder! I like the spunk! But anyways, enough of that. Remember how a couple days ago I said that if you wanna leave you gotta die or kill someone else? And how I mentioned a trial?” The room was dead silent, “Well, since you guys are so  _ eager _ to know, by a trial I meant a  _ class trial _ ! Not only do you need to murder someone, but you have to fool your fellow friends into thinking it wasn’t you! Do that and you get to walk out of here while everybody else gets punished! Don’t do that, and it’s your head on the chopping block!” If it was possible to be any more shocked, everybody in the room would’ve been. “That’s why I said it was important for you guys to investigate! Don’t give the killer an easy win! Now, before you guys start arguing here, I made an actual place for you guys to duke it out in an eye-pleasing environment. It’s just down that hallway!” Fox-o-kuma points his paw to the doors to the Judgement Hall, “It’s not as deadly as I made it out to be. It’s quite seriously just a dark hallway. Not even that long!”

“Well, I’ll see you on the other side!” And with that, Fox-o-kuma disappeared once more. Everybody stood silent, staring at one another.

“Let’s not keep waiting any longer.” Shibata broke the tense air and walked through the doors.

“Exactly. We can easily get this over with.” Takaki stated and followed suit.

“Yea! Let’s show the killer that we got the skills to pay their bills!” Cheri threw their fist into the air, storming through the doors, Oono laughing and following after her.

“I wish the killer a happy afterlife. I bet this was a mercy killing.” Saito held her hands together, calmly pushing the door into the abyss.

“I hope I can be of use.” Kaneko’s bright smile seemed to make the room glow as he held onto Ishida’s shoulder, walking into the hallway.

“I swear on that, Kaneko!” Maruyama gently slammed into both doors, almost tearing them off their hinges.

“Don’t break anything.” Aoki huffed after him.

“Afterwards, let us commemorate Nakashima with a ballad.” The twins both spoke at the same time, continuing on.

“I’ll be controlling this case myself. I doubt anybody knows the truth.” Fukuda’s harsh words were spat, but it was clear to Hiroto that he had no idea.

There was only two left in the room, Ohayashi and Hiroto. Ohayashi stared down at Hiroto, his eyes smiling. “Well then. Let’s reveal the truth. I know you can, at least.” Ohayashi opened the door, walking down the hallway. Hiroto opened his notebook for one, final time, before their class trial.

**_Foxy Diary #1._ **

_ Nakashima’s autopsy report by Fox-o-kuma. Her time of death was 12:45 AM while it’s clear that she had been aggressively butchered and had struggled. _

**_State Of Body._ **

_ Nakashima’s eyes were closed when they had found her. It’s likely that the killer had done this. There was also no blood on the floor of the storage room, where they found her body. _

**_Dried Blood._ **

_ There was evidence of blood outside of Oono’s room and leading to the Infirmary. The blood had been cleaned up, but not before some of it dried. _

**_Oono’s Room._ **

_ The blood had ended in front of Oono’s room, where a puddle had begun to form on the inside of the room, where a footprint was seen. _

**_Oono’s Account._ **

_ Oono claimed to not have been in her room ever since the first night, having been staying with Cheri. She claims that she woke up when Cheri had entered the room, shaking her awake about a dead body. _

**_Knife Drawer._ **

_ The knife drawer in the kitchen was lacking two knives, a small knife and a larger knife. It’s likely the murder weapons came from here. _

**_Cheri’s Account._ **

_ Cheri claimed to have been soothing Oono after she had been upset, before visiting Oono’s room. Cheri had been in the room when the blood puddled underneath the door, causing her to have stepped in it. _

**_Takaki’s Report._ **

_ Nakashima’s autopsy report by Takaki. Takaki says that it was obvious that narcotics were involved, and that it was only after the first syringe dosage that Nakashima put up a fight. _

**_Bag Of Weapons._ **

_ A small bag of weapons left in the Infirmary. Inside was two bloody knives, an empty syringe, and an empty medicine bottle. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you think killed Nakashima? Give me your ideas!


	7. Class Trial, Commence! Case One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *COUGHING UP EXAMS AND PAPERS* OH MY GOD IT'S BEEN LIKE A MONTH.
> 
> I did not think how hard it would be to make a class trial. I know I said I was going to put the entire class trial in one chapter, but it's been a month and half of the class trial is done. So, I apologize for leaving this for a month. That was not meant to happen, at all.
> 
> So, here's part of the class trial. I promise it won't be such a long wait for the second part of the trial.

The hallway lead to a large, rectangular room with a polished floor. In the middle of the room was a circle of arches, each finely made with small details. On the inside of the arches, where the person would stand, was a hand-carved name of one of the people present, as well as two buttons and a screen. The only different was that the podium for Nakashima’s had a standing picture of her with a red X over it. “Go ahead to the area that has your name on it!” Fox-o-kuma bellowed. They were sitting adjacent from the hallway, on a large and extremely detailed podium, with spirals and curves. They were sitting on a small, wooden stool at the top of it, like a judge. Fox-o-kuma had a smaller arch infront of them, with a gavel sitting ontop of it, as well as a red button.

Everybody moved to stand in front of their arches. Starting in front of Fox-o-kuma, going to their right, was Nakashima, Saito, Takaki, Ohayashi, Oono, Takeda, Akito, Ando, Akiko, Ishida, Maruyama, Cheri, Fukuda, then Shibata. Fox-o-kuma waited as everybody got to their spots, before speaking. “If you’ve had earwax in your ears, or better yet tears, I’ll explain the rules again! You’re going to debate over who is the murderer of this case! If you get it right, then only they will be punished! But if you get it wrong, then the killer will be spared and I’ll have fun getting rid of the rest of you! Now, **_GET TO ARGUING_ **!”

### ~-~-~ **Class Trial Start** ~-~-~

**_Saito Kasumi_ ** _:_ What should we talk about?

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : Nakashima, of course.

**_Maruyama Daisuke_** : So? Who do we think it is, come on!

**_Takeda_** **_Takashi_** : Does anybody have anything?

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : I think it’s obvious!

**_Ohayashi Ryu_ ** : Go ahead then.

**_Yamasaki Etsko_** : It’s Takaki, duh!

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : Oh?! Enlighten us, then!

**_Yamasaki Etsko_** : You’re a doctor, and Nakashima had oxycodone in her system!

**_Oono Kaoru_ ** : How do you even know that? What is oxycodone anyway?!

**_Takaki Toshihiro_** : It’s a type of narcotic that relieves pain. _I_ didn’t even know it was specifically Oxycodone.

**_Yamasaki Etsko_** : No, you just choose not to say it!

**_Aoki Ikuyo_** : Well, how do you know?

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : Did nobody bother to check the cabinet?! Hey, Swirlie! Back me up, you investigated that room, _right_?

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : I investigated the room, but I didn’t check the cabinet.

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : There, no proof of me killing Nakashima.

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** _:_ But I now have enough information. It’s Yamasaki, her behavior just proves it.

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : She was the first to find the body, and she was outside of Oono’s room!

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : That’s can’t be right.

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : What do you mean?

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : Jokes on you, but I was in Oono’s room! We switched rooms, fool!

**_Oono Kaoru_ ** : Yea! Well, I didn’t know she went into my room, but I was in her room!

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : The blood stain on Cheri’s shoe proves it. The blood outside of the room leaked under the door, getting the bottom of her shoe wet. It’s still on it, actually.

**_Yamasaki Etsko_** : Wait, it is?! Nice!

**_Saito Kasumi_ ** : That’s not a cool thing, Cheri!

**_Maruyama Daisuke_ ** : But she could’ve left the room, killed Nakashima, and then went back inside!

**_Ohayashi Ryu_** : There would’ve been footprints, even though the killer cleaned up the blood, some of it was dried.

**_Takeda Takashi_ ** : Disgusting.

**_Fukuda Bunta_** : Maruyama, I actually have a question.

**_Maruyama Daisuke_ ** : Yea?

**_Fukuda Bunta_** : Did you let Shibata go? And where did they go?

**_Maruyama Daisuke_** : I just made her go to her room, that’s all! I even saw her go inside, right before the doors locked.

**_Shibata Noriko_ ** : Are you suspecting me?

**_Fukuda Bunta_ ** : You DID try to kill Ando.

**_Shibata Noriko_ ** : …

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : I’m calling a bluff! It can’t be Miss Itchy Trigger Finger!

**_Fukuda Bunta_ ** : Who...Nevermind, I know. And I’m saying it could be her because of her previous attempts.

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : I think we’re going off track. We should really figure out _how_ Nakashima died.

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : Poisoning!

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : We just went over that! She didn’t die by poisoning! She died by the stab wounds!

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : Prove it!

**_Ohayashi Ryu_ ** : Please stop.

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : Fine. Continue, Swirle! Give us clues!

**_Ando Hiroto_** : Why me?

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : I thought you had something.

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : Well, I kind of do. We need to figure out when everybody went to their rooms, and who woke up first.

**_Maruyama Daisuke_ ** : Why?

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : It’s the perfect time to kill Nakashima, and she died around 12 am. That means that the killer couldn’t of gone back to their room, since the doors lock.

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : So, the first person to wake up is a likely suspect.

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : Exactly.

**_Shibata Noriko_ ** : I assure you, I went to bed before Maruyama. And I was woken up by Fox-o-kuma’s announcement. The second one, the body annoucement.

**_Maruyama Daisuke_ ** : That first part did happen.

**_Kokowa Akito_ ** : She was woken up by the announcement, because me and Akiko saw her leave her room shortly after we were told to enter the storage room.

**_Kokowa Akiko_ ** : Yup.

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : I admit, I was the only one awake this morning, but I swear I went straight to Oono to wake her up. And before that, we’d went straight to my room after the threat.

**_Oono Kaoru_ ** : Mhm! I didn’t want to talk to the others after that.

**_Ohayashi Ryo_ ** : I left to my room after talking with Ando for a little while. When I got to the cafeteria the next morning, Saito and Takaki were there already eating.

**_Saito Kasumi_ ** : He is right. I was woken up by Fox-o-kuma’s morning announcement, and went I arrived at the cafeteria Takaki had already sat down and was eating.

**_Fox-o-kuma_ ** : Does NOBODY listen for my hard-worked for announcements?!

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : I will admit, I was the first one to wake up. But I was not the first one to go to bed.

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : Are you sure?

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : Seriously, are we suspecting me again?! I just said, I woke up _before_ Saito - how could that make me responsible?!

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : Saito woke up to Fox-o-kuma’s announcement. She went to the cafeteria, _where you already were eating_ . As far as I can guess, that means you would’ve needed time to have gotten there **_and_ ** prepare you something to eat.

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : But I was _not_ the last person to go to bed! I was in the infirmary the whole night-!

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : . . .

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : You were in the infirmary the entire night? You didn’t even go to bed, did you?

**_Takaki Toshihiro_** : That is true. But, I will say this. _I was not the only person in the infirmary!_ _Saito was as well!_

**_Saito Kasumi_ ** : W-What?!

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : I did, infact, give Nakashima some oxycodone. She had asked for something to help her relax, and so I gave her a small dosage. Saito had come in shortly after, needing some assistance with grabbing something in the storage room. I went to go grab it, but when I came back both Saito and Nakashima were gone.

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : Saito, where did you go after Takaki left?

**_Saito Kasumi_ ** : I-I swear, I went to my own room-!

**_Takai Toshihiro_ ** : I know you did not, because you came back, asking for some oxycodone for yourself. I gave you your own dosage, but before I could administer it, you argued about wanting to put it in yourself, and walked out. And this was shortly after Fox-o-kuma’s night announcement.

**_Saito Kasumi_ ** : I-I..!

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : Soo, it’s her?

**_Ohayashi Ryu_ ** : I do believe it’s her, but there’s something off.

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : What?

**_Ohayashi Ryu_ ** : The time of death. Nakashima died at 12:45 AM. Takaki states that Saito asked for a dosage at around the time the doors lock. There’s a two hour time-span uncalled for.

**_Ohayashi Ryu_ ** : There’s also the bag of weapons found inside of the infirmary. And, there was only one syringe. I’m not entirely used to medicine, but wouldn’t reusing the same syringe on two different people be illogical?

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : Why don’t we just vote Saito? What’s the purpose for this?

**_Ohayashi Ryu_** I’m saying that you also had a hand in this murder. We have to pick the blackened, and if we picked Saito there could’ve still been you. You would’ve gotten away with it-.

**_Fox-o-kuma_ ** : **_Intervention time!_ ** Sorry to bust your bubble, but only the person who delivers the killing blow will be the blackened! Anybody that helps is just helping for the sake of helping, they’ll still be executed if the blackened wins!

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : There’s no point to teaming up then, is there?

**_Fox-o-kuma_ ** : Nope! Continue!

**_Ohayashi Ryu_ ** : There’s still the choice between you and Saito.

**_Takeda Takashi_ ** : May I just say something?

**_Ando Hiroto_** : Go ahead.

**_Takeda Takashi_ ** : The doors are sound-proof, right, Fox-o-kuma?

**_Fox-o-kuma_ ** : Man, stop bugging me! But yea, they’re completely sound-proof!

**_Takeda Takashi_ ** : Alright. May I add another suspect back?

**_Takaki Toshihiro_ ** : Go on.

**_Takeda Takashi_ ** : We said earlier that it couldn’t of been Cheri since she had blood on her shoe and was inside of Oono’s room. How can we be certain that it’s true? And how the blood was dried, she could’ve actually cleaned the blood up, and not realizing that a bit got on her shoe. She was even surprised when we pointed it out to her!

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : Gosh, I thought I already proved my innocence! Look, I’ll tell you what happened!

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : After going into Oono’s room in a brief period of random shiz, the door locked on me and I thought, “Oh well, guess I’m sleeping in here!”. And so I went to sleep! I woke up to someone abusing the hell out of the doorknob, and went to go answer it, before it suddenly stopped and blood came under the door! There!

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : Somebody was ringing Oono’s bell?

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : Yea! And I’d like to bet it was Nakashima!

**_Ohayashi Ryu_ ** : How come?

**_Yamasaki Etsko_ ** : The blood, duh. It was obviously hers! I haven’t seen anybody else with some major holes in their body that warrant a blood puddle. Especially not our two guilty suspects!

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : That must mean she fled.

**_Takeda Takashi_ ** : Why would she flee?

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : Takaki, you didn’t give us the full truth.

### ~-~-~ **Intermission** ~-~-~

**_Fox-o-kuma_ ** : Time for a break, you lousy kids! Go grab a

snack or something.

**_Ando Hiroto_ ** : Wait, what?


End file.
